22nd of May (22 Mei)

• Director: Koen Mortier
• Writer: Koen Mortier
• Cast: Sam Louwyck, Titus De Voogdt, Norman Baert, Wim Willaert, Jan Hammenecker
• Theatrical Release Date:
• Criticwire: C+
• On The Web IMDB Entry

Synopsis: Confronting the immediacy of guilt and regret in the wake of an unexpected tragedy, "22nd of May" is an atmospheric and emotionally intense film that probes our contemporary understanding of death and disaster. Opening with a bravura sequence of stark realism, the film shifts into an unreal dreamscape in which the characters are trapped in purgatory, desperately trying to resolve the individual traumas that haunt them.

After fleeing a devastating disaster, security guard Sam (Sam Louwyck) awakes to a nightmarish world where he is visited by victims of the tragedy. They draw Sam into the narrative of their own lives, revealing a harrowing glimpse of the sorrow they experience. A young woman accosts him for not saving her infant son; a lonely man confides his unrequited love for a shopkeeper; a frustrated slacker pines for the woman who rejected him. Several of the victims indict Sam’s failure to protect them, but their accusations are a pale reflection of the unremitting guilt he feels for a traumatic incident in his own past. [Synopsis courtesy of Toronto International Film Festival]